Lavender is one of my most favorite plants of all time; that smell, that color, that taste! Medicinally, lavender can be used both internally as a tea or applied externally to the skin as an essential oil. The essential oil has even been called "a first-aid kit in a bottle" because of its range of uses from healing wounds, decreasing pain, and working as an antiseptic.

When infused in water and drank as a tea lavender can:

Relax the nervous system

Ease digestion

Relieve stress

Mild antidepressant effects

When used in aroma therapy it can:

Relieve headaches

Promote sleep and a restful state

Ease exhaustion

When used topically on the skin it can:

Ease aches and pains

Bug repellent (tried this while in deep in the Belize jungle)

Antifungal

Antibacterial

But wait... we haven't even talked about the culinary and beautifying ways lavender can help!

Lavender can be used to add taste and fragrance to pretty much anything from ice cream, cupcakes, salad, salad dressing, honey, and lavender lemonade on a summer's day.

Lavender can also be used in beauty products to help fight acne, prevent infections, tone the skin, added to lotion, worn as a perfume, or added to the bath.